The Political Chase

Clinton to Discuss Iraq on CNN

Bill Clinton will be on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 tonight at 10:00 pm. According to the preview , he will discuss Iraq and Hillary’s potential bid for the presidency.

Technorati Tags : Bill+Clinton, Hillary+Clinton, Iraq, Politics

Bush Summoned

President Bush has been summoned to report to the court on Monday for jury duty.

A grand jury would be more insightful.

Technorati Tags : George+Bush, politics

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Justice Dept. Asked to Investigate Oil Companies

Implementing Democracy

I suppose the Pentagon paying the Iraqi press to publish propaganda is part of the plan to implement democracy, freedom, liberty, etc. in Iraq. Why not? It’s done here. The GSA has already declared the administration committed criminal acts spreading domestic propaganda.

Technorati Tags : Iraq, propaganda, Pentagon, press

Saddam’s Torture Chamber

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Alito Flip-Flop

Which one are we to believe? Why should the question even have to be asked? And what’s up with this one voice for the public and another behind closed doors?

CNN - 11/15/05

Alito has told senators in private meetings in recent days he has “great respect” for precedent, including the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling.

The New York Times - 11/30/05

In documents from 1985 made public today by the National Archives, Mr. Alito urged the solicitor general to use a case before the court to “make clear that we disagree with Roe v. Wade and would welcome the opportunity to brief the issue of whether, and if so to what extent, that decision should be overruled.”

Technorati Tags: Samuel+Alito, Supreme+Court, Rove+v+Wade

Perfect

The New York Times :

His strategy document defines that as an Iraq that “has defeated the terrorists and neutralized the insurgency”; is “peaceful, united, stable, democratic and secure”; and is a partner in the war on terror, an integral part of the international community, and “an engine for regional economic growth and proving the fruits of democratic governance to the region.”

That may be the most grandiose set of ambitions for the region since the vision of Nebuchadnezzar’s son Belshazzar, who saw the hand writing on the wall.

Well said.

George+Bush, Iraq, Politics

Skeptical about David Brooks’ Skepticism

I’m a bit skeptical about David Brooks’ new position of sociologist (sub. req.) at the The New York Times. I thought Brooks was a journalist. His bio thinks he is a journalist as well.

Brooks has obviously done an extensive scientific study comparing today’s society (definition/locale please) with society (locale/region?) during Vietnam, World War II and World War I, concluding the Iraq war has created a skeptical society.

The chief cultural effect of the Iraq war is that we are now entering a period of skepticism. Many Americans are going to be skeptical that their government can know enough to accomplish large tasks or competent enough to execute ambitious policies. More people are going to be skeptical of plans to mold reality according to our designs or to solve the deep problems that are rooted in history and culture. They are going to be skeptical of our ability to engage with or understand faraway societies in the Middle East or Africa or elsewhere.

Let’s get the record straight. There should be no element of skepticism, in the contemporary sense, that George Bush and Dick Cheney, not the Iraq war, are the root cause for any sociological changes. The only skepticism I see applicable, from a lay perspective, is philosophical - the doctrine that absolute knowledge is impossible, either in a particular domain or in general. I have no doubts about the impossibility of absolute knowledge within a particular domain - 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington DC.

Recognizing that I am not nearly as qualified to make this statement as Mr. Brooks, but if skepticism is the “chief cultural effect” of Bush and Cheney’s reign, “we” have literally escaped their purview.

Technorati Tags: David+Brooks, politics, Iraq, George+Bush, Dick+Cheney

Follow Up: National Strategy for Iraq

I have now gone through the 35-page “National Strategy for Victory in Iraq” (NSVI). I think there is as much (more maybe?) substance in my summary post below (based on exec. summary and news reports) than there is in the detail of the NSVI. The White House Iraq Group continues to operate today. If not that, then Bush and Co. called a Madison Ave. firm in to develop a new public relations instrument.

Around the middle of October, in reference to some of Condi’s remarks, I said the administration could save time, effort, and money if they just acquired a Chatty Cathy doll and pulled the string a few times. Six weeks later, nothing has changed. I could almost use the same post; just change the names.

To ameliorate insomnia, click here.